iTunes Editors’ Notes

After 40 years in music and dozens of albums to his credit, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal has pulled off a tough trick — he’s attained the status of an American musical icon while remaining active, inventive, and capable of providing some creative surprises. Maestro is a fittingly diverse album filled with notable guest stars and plenty of genuine energy to get the music across. Mahal does reggae with Ziggy Marley (“Black Man, Brown Man”), soulful rock with Ben Harper (“Dust Me Down”), West African pop with Angélique Kidjo and Toumani Diabaté (“Zanzibar”), and he pairs with Jack Johnson (“Further On Down the Road”) as well as Los Lobos (“Never Let You Go”) without leaving a doubt as to who’s in charge here. He also delivers 12-bar blues (“TV Mama,” “Strong Man Holler”) and banjo-driven country blues with a New Orleans flavor (“Slow Drag”) as he’s been doing for decades and his voice sounds as earthy and rich as ever. The maestro’s in excellent form here and his many fans should enjoy this one.

Customer Reviews

Mr Mahal continues to make me love blues

by
Dr_B-man

Taj has never received the acclaim he deserves. Nevertheless this album continues to meld blues, Caribbean, R&B, and the gruffiest yet soulful voice there is. Taj deserves your ear, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Not his best, but better than most

by
CalhounDog

And it's very good, but it's hard to do better than the Phantom Blues album. Those who recognize real music will appreciate this a little more than some. Taj Mahal and his music is not a fad or a trend.

Still Doing It

by
ngthum

Gotta love the voice and playfulness of Taj Mahal. This album is a great one for enjoyin some summer fun, and you gotta love the Jack Johnson cameo on Further on Down the Road, which Jack has been covering for years. Great work Taj!

Biography

Born: May 17, 1942 in New York, NY

Genre: Blues

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

One of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues, singer/multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal played an enormous role in revitalizing and preserving traditional acoustic blues. Not content to stay within that realm, Mahal soon broadened his approach, taking a musicologist's interest in a multitude of folk and roots music from around the world — reggae and other Caribbean folk, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco, various West African styles, Latin, even Hawaiian. The African-derived heritage...